What if you were to wake up in the Cenozoic, even in the very recent Cenozoic, but with a group of Neanderthals? They were close relatives, but you might find them to be a bit different from your usual friends.

Human Evolution

Humans evolved during the later Cenozoic. New fossil discoveries alter the details of what we know about the evolution of modern humans, but the major evolutionary path is well understood.

Primate Ancestors

Humans evolved from primates, and apes and humans have a primate common ancestor. About 7 million years ago, chimpanzees (our closest living relatives) and humans shared their last common ancestor.

Hominids

Animals of the genus
Ardipithecus
, living roughly 4 to 6 million years ago, had brains roughly the size of a female chimp. Although they lived in trees, they were bipedal. Standing on two feet allows an organism to see and also to use its hands and arms for hunting. By the time of
Australopithecus afarensis
, between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago, these human ancestors were completely bipedal and their brains were growing rapidly (
Figure
below
).

Australopithecus afarensis
is a human ancestor that lived about 3 million years ago.

Homo

The genus
Homo
appeared about 2.5 million years ago. Humans developed the first stone tools.
Homo erectus
evolved in Africa about 1.8 million years ago. Fossils of these animals show a much more human-like body structure, which allowed them to travel long distances to hunt. Cultures begin and evolve.

Homo sapiens

Homo sapiens
, our species, originated about 200,000 years ago in Africa. Evidence of a spiritual life appears about 32,000 years ago with stone figurines that probably have religious significance (
Figure
below
).

Stone figurines likely indicate a spiritual life.

The ice ages allowed humans to migrate. During the ice ages, water was frozen in glaciers and so land bridges such as the Bering Strait allowed humans to walk from the old world to the new world.

Summary

Australopithecus afarensis
was completely bipedal and had a growing brain.

Homo erectus
evolved 1.8 million years ago and left behind signs of an early culture.

Our species is
Homo sapiens
, which evolved 200,000 years ago in Africa and continues to today.